Como Docksiide will shut down restaurant operations at the lakeside pavilion on Nov. 22, and the City of Saint Paul is seeking a new vendor to run the pavilion beginning in 2018, the city says in a press release issued late Nov. 10. We'll post updates as we gain more information.

Dockside will close to the public after dinner service on Wednesday Nov. 22. After that, it will open only for private parties that were previously booked.

Here is the entire city press release:

City of Saint Paul announces changes coming to Como Lakeside Pavilion

Following 3 successful years, City plans to explore new models to improve service

SAINT PAUL—The City of Saint Paul is seeking a new partner to provide food, service, and hospitality at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion. Earlier this week, the City and the current management partner Como Dockside came to an agreement to part ways and transition to a new management partner for spring 2018.

“The Como Lakeside Pavilion has so much potential and hopefully the community has recognized the complete transformation of the facility since we took over as the management partner in 2015,” said Jon Oulman of Como Dockside. “We had hoped a year-round staffing model and upscale full-service restaurant concept would be successful at the facility, but unfortunately, due to seasonality of the facility and competitive labor market we could see that long-term we’d need to adjust – and we felt a different vendor would be a better fit for this space.”

Following a lengthy community process that featured strong marketplace demand in 2014, Como Dockside was selected as part of a competitive bidding process and became the management partner for the facility starting Jan. 2015. Over the last 3 years, Como Dockside has dramatically improved the program at the pavilion. They have invested almost $300,000 into the facility, completely transforming and upgrading the facility. The facility now features the infrastructure necessary to operate a full-service restaurant, summer concession stand with direct access to adjacent walking trails, an upgraded premium outdoor promenade performance area and stage, and new amenities such as an improved public dock to allow for outdoor summer recreation options, on and around the lake.

“Como Dockside brought new life to the Como Lakeside Pavilion, and has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into this publicly owned facility,” said Saint Paul Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hahm. “The Como Dockside staff and owners certainly demonstrated their passion to making this a successful endeavor, and although we’ve been pleased with how they fully activated the site, we all agreed it’s time for a change and are now all excited for next steps.”

Como Dockside will cease full-service restaurant operations on Nov. 22, but will continue to provide limited service in the facility through the end of the year. The City has already initiated the preliminary steps for transitioning the operations of the facility. That process will rely on community feedback received during the lengthy community process in 2015, along with feedback received as part of surveying conducted by Como Dockside as part of their annual performance evaluations. The City expects to have a new vendor in place for operations beginning early 2018.